The Big Lottery Fund has launched a £30m funding programme to offer support to young carers, young people leaving youth offending institutions and young people leaving care.

Youth in Focus, which will be England–wide, will support projects which give young people with these experiences a voice, and provide them with advice and support that can help them in their daily lives.

Organisations from the voluntary and community sectors can apply, but they must have a record of working with the target groups to be eligible. Only approximately 30 grants will be given; mostly, grants of £500,000 to £1m will be available and over a period of five years. Additionally, up to three grants of £1.5m will be given to projects raising awareness of the issues affecting young people.

The application process begins in September 2010, when applications will be available for download and dates to briefing events will be put up. The deadline for all applications is in November 2010, with no applications being considered after 2pm 30 November. All decisions will be announced in May 2011.